This was our second visit to the Iberostar Selection Creta Marine and although late arriving due to a flight delay, we were welcomed with a glass of champagne and a rose for my wife. The reception/lobby area is very spacious and immaculate, check in was pretty quick and we went to our room, the same room as last year, which was on the second floor in the main building with a sea view. The air conditioned room was spacious with a king size bed a couple of chairs, coffee maker, kettle with breakfast tea and Nescafe coffee and minibar. The mini bar was stocked with beer and soft drinks and there were two half bottles of red wine in the room and a plate of chocolates. The bathroom was large with walk in shower, plenty of hangers in the wardrobe and sufficient drawer and shelf space.
The hotel is set on the edge of a cliff and comprises the main hotel and numerous bungalows in the grounds some with swim up pools, there are three coves at the base of the cliff with small sandy/pebbly beaches at each. There are steep paths down to the coves but there are also three pools that are accessible if you are not that mobile. One of the coves is a harbour and contains Lottie Watersports where you can hire a jet ski, go out on a banana boat, etc., but we just opted for trip round and into the caves on the coast.
The hotel has the main buffet restaurant which has plenty of choice, daily "roasts of the day" plus Cretan specialities and a lot of honey. There are also three speciality restaurants, La Locanda, Italian trattoria and Vegghera, Cretan taverna, which are close to the main hotel and Thalassa, Mediterranean restaurant which overlooks the sea. We went to all three and found the food and service to be best in La Locanda, Victoria our waitress was so pleasant. The food in Thalassa and Vegghera were very good but we found that there was too much food. All the restaurants offer a selection of starters for sharing which consist of bread with dips and 4 or 5 other dishes, such as saganaki mussels, crab croquettes, calamari, prawn salad. The main course are also quite large and the whole meal is very good but very filling. For main courses in Thalassa I had beef cheeks, so tender, and sea bream, also very good, my wife had salmon on both occasions but I had to help her eat it as there was so much; in La Locanda I had porchetta saltimbocca, very nice but there were two large pieces of pork, one would have been sufficient, with gnocchi and mushrooms, my wife had Milanese chicken and in Vegghera I had Tzigariasto lamb, the lamb was so tender, I had already had this dish on two occasions in the buffet, whilst my wife had sauteed chicken with mushrooms. wed did give dessert a miss on one occasion. This year they have also added a Sushi wine bar on the terrace at the Thalassa restaurant. As my wife does not like shellfish, we went there after visiting the buffet, I only had a light meal to save space for the sushi. On our first visit the General Manager arrived at the wine bar just after us and on learning my wife didn't like shellfish, she asked the chef to prepare some vegetarian sushi for her. The sushi was very good, so much so we went again two days later, it's a pity we didn't go to the restaurant earlier in our holiday as I would have made more visits there.
It was my wife’s birthday whilst we were there and I had requested a table at the front of the Thalassa restaurant overlooking the sea, which we were given. My wife didn't want any fuss but at the end of the meal she was presented with a birthday cake from the hotel, which was a nice gesture.
The animation team were really enthusiastic, although we only went to a couple of in the outdoor theatre which is shared with the adjacent hotel, Iberostar Waves Panorama & Mare. There was live music on in the lobby bar on some evenings but we spent most of our evening sat the Thalassa cocktail bar looking over the harbour, the barman and waitress there, Apostolis and Maria were both very good.
On the Monday evening, we were invited to a "Sunset Ritual" on the clifftop to watch the sun setting whist enjoying cocktails, it was also a chance to meet some of the staff.
On the Wednesday evening, we were invited to cocktails and canapes on the terrace of the lobby bar, after which we the management of the hotel were introduced to us. We thought this was very good as you rarely know who is in charge in a hotel and it was pleasing to see the various managers during the day going round checking that everything was OK in the hotel.
This year they have also opened a brand new water park, situated between Creta Marine and Creta Panorama & Mare
The whole hotel and grounds are spotless and it is a credit to the staff who work there, all the staff were so friendly and helpful. Whilst it is not possible to name everyone, some notable staff were: Rafa and Guille - animation team; Victoria - La Locanda; Popi - La Locanda & Vegghera; Maria & Marina - La Locanda lunchtimes; Dimitra & Michael - reception; Miglo - Dias buffet; Sofia & Anna - Thalassa; Giorgios - sushi wine bar and Rula - SPA.
I cannot forget the General Manager, Julia Stefanakis, and the Room Division Manager, Eleni Apostolakis, who were both so kind and helpful.
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